Solstice Trees – 2014 –
Midwinter Watch
There is a Cherokee story about
why there are evergreens.
It goes
like this: When the Great Spirit
was creating all of
the trees and plants, there was a desire to give a gift to
each of them
but couldn’t decide which present was appropriate for each tree,
so
he had a contest to find
out. He told all the young trees
that he wanted them to keep watch over the earth for seven days and seven
nights. The trees were very
excited to be given such an important task and for the
first night they had no
difficulty in staying awake. But
on the second
night it was harder, and some of them fell asleep. Each night thereafter another type of
tree fell into a deep slumber, the oaks and elms and fruit orchards, and the
nut trees, and then chestnut and eucalyptus slept as well. On the seventh night only a few
were still awake. When the Great
Spirit came among them he saw the
pine, the cedar, the spruce, the fir,
the holly and the laurel awake and
waiting, awake and watching, awake.
“What great endurance you have! The cedar tree spoke for them and
said, “It gets easier
as you get older, we have had much time to practice.
” To you I shall give the
gift of remaining green forever.
You shall
guard the forest, even in the dead of Winter and on the night
of
Midwinter Solstice, when all of your brothers and sisters are sleeping.”
Ever since that time, all the other
trees lose their leaves in Winter and sleep until Spring; 
but the evergreen
trees are always awake, and always watching. It makes them happy.
Is it time for a walk in the woods?
Blessings on your Holiday week, however you have it. Hugs all around.
Misty 18 December 2014
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